From Scruff To Buff: A Timeline of Body Hair Among Gay Men

A Timeline of Body Hair among Gay Men

Body hair has always played a role in self-expression across regions, cultures, genders and races. More recently, growing body hair and grooming has become popular once more among all genders.

Grooming isn’t a new concept. Plenty of ancient cultures believed shaving body hair represented civility or purity. Others shaved their body hair to display a more youthful look. In other regions of the world, other cultures passed up shaving; body hair was considered good luck.

Like many civilizations before ours, gay culture in America has also experienced a love-hate relationship with body hair. Gay men embraced body hair for its portrayal of masculinity, then subsequently rejected it as a symbol of untidiness. While body hair resurges in popularity, we explore the movements that trigger the changes in our attitudes towards man scruff.

Let's take a look at the gay man's relationship with body hair over the years.

1970’s

Among gay men, body hair truly lived in its prime in the 70's. Men frequently sported their all-natural looks, flashing their chests during pride parades, or even while exploring other bodies in porn. Body hair was a signifier of testosterone. It emphasized masculinity and was both a positive and sexy attribute.

1980's

The all-natural hairy look continued well in the 1980s. It became associated age, low body hair indicating youth and high body hair implied maturity and manhood. Bossy hair was also prevalent among those in the leather community. In the late 80s, opinions on body hair begin to shift.

1990's

The AIDS crisis of the late 80s presented a turning point in the evolution of body hair among gay men. People living with AIDS were often slender or appeared to be sunken in. Gay men soon associated skinny or thin frames with sickness and death, impacting both body image and body hair. Not shortly after, body-building became a staple among gay men, as did steroids. Muscular structures indicated strength and emphasized health, while their clean-shaven bodies represented cleanliness.

2000's

Can we say Metrosexual? Grooming materializes in mainstream after straight men take notice of gay culture’s heightened emphasis on the clean-cut look. Muscularity and shaved body hair continue to dominate as positive attributes among gay men. Conversely, bears, a sub group of gay men that formed in the 1990s in response to clean shaven muscular and twink types, emerge in the 2000s. Bears, unlike their more muscular counterparts, celebrate bigger bodies, lots of body hair, facial hair, and sometimes, older men.

2010's

Is the pendulum finally swinging back? Yes, men are still shaving their chest, backs and faces, but to a lesser degree. And while grooming is seemingly ubiquitous, more and more men are growing out their beards, or body hair. Nonetheless, grooming trends from the early 2000s endured the boy band hiatus. Men are no longer averse growing body hair, but this time around, they take to trimming or embroidering themselves with their hair. While body and facial hair is once again coupled with masculinity, tidiness in appearance has given way to trimming among gay men. Everything comes full circle.

Now

Nowadays, it really comes down to personal preference. Oftentimes, it also falls down to wanting what you can’t have, meaning smooth and hairless men tend to find hairier men more attractive, and vice versa.

Beards are definitely having their moment, and some people think the scruffier, the better. Overall, though, a manicured and intentional look is still what people hope for when it comes to body hair; we don’t need it to grow in a thousand different places. So long as you know it’s there and use proper hygiene, you’re good. Plus, men love sleeping on a furry chest because it’s like its own pillow.